This year’s Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) elections mark a return to a tradition of an uncontested race for the position of Education Officer, with last year’s two-way race seemingly an exception. With fourth-year history and English student Alice MacPherson the only student to put herself forward for the position, this year will mark the third time in the past four years that the race is uncontested.
Speaking to The University Times, MacPherson highlights her experience within TCDSU, initially as a class representative in her second year, and later as the Deputy Convenor and the Convenor of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS). MacPherson explains that the role requires “a lot of experience sitting on forums that the Education Officer sits on, such as faculty committees”. She believes that she now has “a unique knowledge of how the inside structures of Trinity work” and “a bit more knowledge about how to get stuff done and where to direct things”.
Regarding her personal motivation for running, MacPherson admits that it is “not the most glorious SU position, or the one that gets the most attention”, but states: “I found that I really had a passion for academic issues and campaigning for quality education. Education, specifically, because I believe it’s the position that gets to liaise with the college the most, and I think we’re so much stronger when we work with the College and with the staff, and there’s so much opportunity now with Trinity Education Project”.
Despite its relatively low profile compared to positions like president, the position of Education Officer is arguably one of the most important student positions on campus
In addition, she expresses her desire to be “a friendly face and someone who could really engage with students who come to me with casework”. She states how her desire to run for the position was driven partly by her experience last year of being very sick and having to get help with her course, describing “how helpful” those in the union were. MacPherson adds that she also saw it as an opportunity for “personal skill improvement, another way to gain skills myself, while also helping others”.
Despite its relatively low profile compared to positions like president, the position of Education Officer is arguably one of the most important student positions on campus. Speaking to The University Times, the current Education Officer, Dale Whelehan, describes the role as being the “chief academic officer of the students’ union”. Whelehan notes a “natural progression” in recent years whereby most Education Officers have previously served as faculty convenors, which he adds are “effectively a mini-Education Officer themselves”. Whelehan himself was the Convenor of the Faculty of Health Sciences, while his predecessor Molly Kenny was Convenor of the Faculty of Engineering, Mathematics and Science.
Discussing why he felt that the position of Education Officer is so often uncontested, Whelehan noted that it is a role that “students don’t know about”, arguing that “structures of the union and knowledge of that will probably deter people away from running who aren’t involved in the union”. MacPherson shares similar views, pointing out that “you see the other officers around more and see their names attached to campaigns” and that “a lot of people don’t realise what the Education Officer actually does”. Although the role seems to prioritise experience, MacPherson says, “I also have fresh ideas”. She criticises a perception that union involvement is necessary to fulfil the role, stating that, if elected, she hopes to work on opening the elections to more people. In particular, as well as existing campaigns to improve female representation in the union, MacPherson would like to initiate similar campaigns for other under-represented groups such as students with disabilities and students from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Outlining the three main aspects of the role, Whelehan counts “representing the academic interests of the student body by representing them on all college governance structures” amongst the most important, with the “biggest” being University Council, the governing body of college. In this capacity, Whelehan states that he advocates for “the quality of education and that the decisions made on education are of benefit to students”. The role also involves “casework pertaining to academic issues students are having”. Finally, the Education Officer is responsible for “managing the structures of the union”, with responsibility for electing and training class representatives, school convenors and faculty convenors, as well as working with the chairs of the TCDSU’s Electoral Commission and Oversight Commission.
The issue of higher education funding is one that Whelehan considers a key challenge for the next officer, with some sort of decision expected in next year’s budget on the future funding of higher education in Ireland. He adds that it will have “a massive impact for funding of Trinity alone, how we are going to run services”. Within college, Whelehan feels that “student engagement both within the union and in college” is a key issue for the next officer to address, adding that the structures of TCDSU “needs to be looked at again, to ensure they are democratic and functioning”, with Whelehan singling out TCDSU’s council in particular for mention in this regard.
When asked about key challenges faced by the role next year, MacPherson also referred to student engagement. One of her aims for the role would be to “improve systems of representation the SU has already, but also to create new ones”, seeing students studying abroad as one group she feels lack representation in the union at present. She referred to the need for the union to inform “people about what the SU actually does”, but also the need for it to be “realistic” about how it is perceived by students.
Elaborating, she states that “it’s amazing the SU takes on big social campaigns and gives them a voice in college”, but that “people want changes that they will see in their everyday life”. Because of this, she says, there is also a need for TCDSU “to look more internally [within Trinity]’, something she feels the Education Officer is well placed to focus on given it is the officer that ‘works with academic staff’”.
The Trinity Education Project, the widespread reimagining of how Trinity’s undergraduate students are taught and assessed, has been a significant part of the role this year
The Trinity Education Project, the widespread reimagining of how Trinity’s undergraduate students are taught and assessed, has been a significant part of the role this year, with Whelehan sitting on four of the project’s five strands. Whelehan points to two main challenges his successor will face with regards the project. First, he highlights the need to “ensure that when the tough decisions have to be made that they are not going to be of detriment to students”, with his biggest concern regarding the project being the need to ensure that “any changes we are making are accepted by the whole college community”. Second, he points to the partnership policy on student engagement, which is currently passing through college governance structures, which he feels the next Education Officer “is going to have to do a lot [of work on] to facilitate a culture of change among staff and students to no longer see a consumerism relationship between them, but [rather] a partnership relationship”.
MacPherson, on familiar terms with the project, notes that next year will be the first implementation year of the Trinity Education Project. In particular, she points to the importance of “information being conveyed to students” so that students are able to input into the project. When asked which aspect of the project most excited them, both MacPherson and Whelehan gave the same answer, referencing the proposals for cross-faculty electives.
When asked what his advice for the next officer would be, Whelehan advises them to “be happy in yourself and be sure to take time alone to make sure you are looking after yourself”, because “by doing that you’re doing what’s best for the students, because you are going to be able to work to a higher standard”. MacPherson for her part concludes with the message:“I have the experience and I have the ideas to inspire change.”
Patrick Lavelle is Higher Education Editor and will edit the education race for The University Times.
